Summary:
The eight-legged robot from a German and American research team has to venture 25 miles autonomously into the Mojave Desert and return safely.
Scorpion Project
Favored extreme exploration environs: Autonomous Land Traversal Interplanetary (Mars)
Summary: Accurate anatomical and joint dimensions taken from invertebrate natural examples. The goal of the Scorpion Project eventually is to navigate to a target location 25 miles out in the Mojave desert without human interaction and to safely return to the deployment site.
Dimensions:
Model Biomimetic "Scorpion" Robot Credit: German National Research Center
Size: 450x200x300 (LxWxH cm)
Weight: 3.5-5 kg (incl. battery)
Climbing ability: 200 mm steps
Speed Max: 30 cm/s
Operation Time: 1-2 h, depending on terrain
Power: Solar panel, inductive charging
Sensory: Wireless imager in tail segment
Neural network used for cognition and adaptation. Capable of lifetime learning and transferring knowledge to additional robots.
This experiment will demonstrate that robots can survive for days and even weeks without the help of a human but more important it will revolutionize the scope of performable tasks and open eyes on the importance of autonomous systems (e.g. for Mars missions).
The main co-operation for the DARPA funded robotics research for the Scorpion Project is between Prof. Dr. Ayers Autonomous Underwater Robot group at the Marine Science Centre (MSC) at Northeastern University (NEU), Boston, MA, as the partner in neurobiological research and Dipl.-Inform. Frank Kirchner from the German National Research Center (GMD).
